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score 10/10
So much has been written about THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE these days that it seems almost redundant to write a review about it. Needless to say, TCM is one of my top films of all time. It's so good on so many levels that it would take a book to write a perfect review of this once-maligned flick. Some people, who have never seen it before, wonder what's so great about it after watching it for the first time, well, this is probably because TCM is the most copied movie of all time and TCM will look too familiar to newbies. You can literally trace x number of horror movies (or even action movies) back to this film. The thing is, TCM is a groundbreaking movie but few people back then noticed it. Mainly because when this low budget movie was originally released by its unscrupulous distributors it was dismissed as another trashy drive-in horror movie, when in fact few realized the brilliance to be found within it. After TCM was released, few horror films could afford to go back to Hammer style horror or the usual boring fare. You can really see the difference in movies made before TCM and those made after TCM became a big hit. The unrelentingly blunt, chaotic, savage, take-no-prisoners attitude of TCM was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before and this aspect of TCM is what makes it truly groundbreaking. Horror movies or even movies in general simply couldn't be cutesy or quaint anymore.
The film is unsettling and funny. It's totally original with its brazen, full-throttled approach to horror when most films made in those days were static, slow and poky. The level of energy this movie has is truly amazing. For a low budget flick, the camera is stunningly fluid and rarely static. The editing is sharp. The music is ominous but never overwhelming. The look of the film is perfect; it's looks so natural and un-Hollywood like which adds a lot in creating the uneasy atmosphere of the movie. But the direction by Tobe Hooper is inspired brilliance and even though Hooper often injected bits of black humor here and there which could have made the film less authentic, the humor never overtakes the story (which is probably what many didn't like about the sequel, which, btw, I recommend too) because the rawness of what's occurs on screen is never pulled back. The direction is perfect for this gruesome horror story. What's really remarkable about TCM is that there isn't a "weakest link" about it. Even though the budget was almost next to nothing and the conditions of making the movie were, according to many articles, hellish, the film doesn't have one weak element. Everything fits perfectly. Technically, the film is amazing. There isn't a scene that feels excessive or some performance that wasn't good. Everything is top notch.
TCM is filled with classic moments: the beginning, with the flashes of the corpses; the scene at the cemetery; the hitchhiker in the van; Kirk facing Leatherface; Pam and the swing shot; Pam falling in a room filled with bones and feathers; Pam and the hook scene; Leatherface surprised by Jerry; Sally being chased by Leatherface (the scene is only screams and chainsaws, for a whole 6 minutes. Amazing!); Sally being poked by Drayton; Sally at the diner table (yikes!); Grandpa and the hammer; Sally being chased by the hitchhiker and Leatherface during the chaotic "live-wired" ending; a crazed Sally in the pick-up truck. The film is one amazing moment after another, from beginning to end.
The actors are mostly unknowns to us today but that doesn't mean their acting wasn't good. The entire cast is excellent and game, ready to give their all. What I really like about the script is that everyone comes across as real. Some characters are even unappealing, like Franklin, the guy in the wheelchair, which you won't see done in movies these days. Today, everyone has to be cute, fun and likable, but in an edgy kind of way. Franklin is a real pain in the ass but having him in the movie makes the film feel more realistic. As for Marilyn Burns, well, she's probably the most underrated "scream queen" in history of film. While other actresses have made a career out of horror films and eventually moved on to other genres, Marilyn has been unlucky in this aspect. You'd think her career would have taken off after TCM but it didn't. The release of the TCM early in the 1970s is probably one reason why her star never shone like Jamie Lee Curtis. The "fans boys" that followed Jamie Lee's films were too young when TCM was released. As for the actors who played the Sawyer family, well, there isn't enough praise in the world for them. Jim Siedow is totally unforgettable. The same for Gunnar as Leatherface. But the greatest performance in TCM is surely given by Edwin Neal, the hitchhiker. Man, oh man, what a performance. His performance is so unbelievably believable that I wonder: was he even acting?
Another great thing about THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is how it captures the feel and attitude of its time. It's a great time capsule. It's so in the moment, that watching it is like traveling back in time and being there in 1973 or 1974. And remember, this was a very troubled time. Vietnam. The Manson Massacre. Richard Speck. Nixon, etc. TCM is a true statement of the time it was made.
But the thing that always gives me the creeps when I watch TCM is the scene at the beginning, when they drive by the cattle ranch and we see the poor animals while Franklin talks about how they are killed and everything. This gives the whole movie its queasy, black humor subtext: the folly of mass consumerism. The general public doesn't see how animals are killed in slaughterhouses. Our meats are always packaged neatly and look appealing. But we never see the real horror behind the benign act of buying some ground beef at a store. The story of TCM is sorta like what happens to the cattle but instead we see cannibals processing their food which, obviously, comes from humans. Hooper seemed to be using the whole horror story as a statement about mass consumerism gone horribly wrong. Sally running away from the Sawyer house is like the cow that got away from the slaughterhouse.
All in all, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is so good that it's one of those rare gems that can be truly appreciated as a straight horror movie, as a black comedy and even as an art film. Personally, I think the film gets better and better with time. There hasn't been anything done like it since. The whole movie was the result of catching lightning in a jar. It's a one of kind film experience that can never be duplicated.
Maciste_Brother 21 October 2003
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0138601/ |
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21-11-2019 09:25:46
